Month: September 2014

Greg Monroe signs Pistons qualifying offer

Greg Monroe signs Pistons qualifying offer

The Detroit Pistons announced today that forward Greg Monroe has signed the team’s one-year qualifying offer for the 2014-15 season.

“I have said from day one that we have great respect for Greg as a person and like what he brings to this team as a player,” said Stan Van Gundy, Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Detroit Pistons. “We have had good dialogue with Greg throughout the offseason with the understanding that there were multiple options for both parties involved, and we respect his decision. We look forward to a great year from Greg as we continue to build our team moving forward.”

“I look forward to playing for Coach Van Gundy and his staff,” said Monroe. He has a proven track record and I’m excited about working with my teammates to get better and prepare for the season.”

Monroe, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, averaged 15.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 32.8 minutes in a career-high 82 games (all starts) last season. In 309 career games (277 starts), Monroe has averaged 14.0 points (.508 FG, .678 FT), 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals in 31.3 minutes per game.

The 6-foot-11, Gretna, LA native has averaged 15.0-plus points, 9.0-plus rebounds, 2.0-plus assists and 1.0-plus steals in each of his last three seasons. He has recorded 101 double-doubles since 2011-12 – second most in the Eastern Conference (Joakim Noah – 102) and recorded his third consecutive season with 1,000-plus points and 600-plus rebounds, joining Grant Hill as the only Pistons to do so since 1994-95.

Warriors sign guard Justin Holiday

Warriors sign guard Justin Holiday

The Golden State Warriors have signed free agent guard Justin Holiday, the team announced today.

Holiday played for the Warriors at the 2014 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, starting all five games and averaging a team-high 14.8 points to go with 5.0 rebounds in 22.8 minutes.

Holiday, 25, played professionally last season in Hungary, where he posted averages of 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 50 games with Szolnok. The 6’6” guard has previous NBA experience with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012-13, appearing in nine contests and averaging 4.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 15.8 minutes. He spent the rest of the 2012-13 campaign with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League, tallying 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a league-leading 2.43 steals in 34.7 minutes over 47 games, earning 2013 All-NBA D-League Third Team and All-NBA D-League Defensive Second Team honors. Following a four-year career at the University of Washington, the Mission Hills, CA, native made his professional debut with Aalstar in Belgium during the 2011-12 season after going unselected in the 2011 NBA Draft.

Holiday will wear uniform #7. The Warriors roster currently stands at 17 players.

Detroit Pistons getting massive new arena scoreboard

Here’s the Detroit Free Press reporting a Pistons arena development:

Detroit Pistons getting massive new arena scoreboard

There’s no telling yet if the Detroit Pistons will be any better in Tom Gores’ fourth season as team owner, but they’ll definitely be bigger on a massive new high-definition scoreboard.

The 56,000-pound scoreboard with six video screens, triple the size of the 15-year-old system it replaces at the Palace of Auburn Hills, is the capstone of a three-year, $40-million renovation by Gores and Platinum Equity, which acquired Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) about three years ago.

In an interview with the Free Press last week, PS&E president Dennis Mannion and other officials shared renderings of the scoreboard and details of the renovations that they aim to complete by the Pistons’ Nov. 1 home opener.

Then it’s up to the Pistons basketball team, under new head coach and team president Stan Van Gundy, to play better — and thus juice up attendance and enthusiasm to a level worthy of the spiffed-up surroundings.

Kenneth Faried doing big things for Team USA

Here’s the Denver Post reporting on Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried, who is currently playing for Team USA in the World Cup:

Kenneth Faried doing big things for Team USA

Kenneth Faried’s recent rising-star status is proof that a world stage can be a powerful thing. Average 18 points and 10 rebounds after the all-star break last season for the Nuggets, against the best players in the world? The skeptics’ voices rang loudest.

Do the same thing against overmatched competition in group play of the FIBA World Cup? Now he’s a keeper. Strange thinking, and backward thinking, but true.

It can be argued Faried has done more to open up the eyes of his own fan base and NBA fans nationwide in one week in Spain than he had in the final two months of the NBA season. That’s been the real value of the tournament for him. He’s playing as he always has, but his name and his nickname, the “Manimal,” are becoming more recognizable. For a player looking to earn his first all-star berth this upcoming season, this is big-time stuff.

Michael Jordan is a big Derek Jeter fan

Here’s the New York Post reporting fun stuff about Jordan and Jeter:

Add Michael Jordan to the long list of Derek Jeter admirers.

His Airness was at the Stadium on Sunday afternoon, part of the Derek Jeter Day tribute before the Yankees fell to the Royals, 2-0.

“The thing I like about Derek, you see all the competitors and all his teammates [he’s played with], and I don’t think anybody can say one thing bad about Derek,” said Jordan, who wore a blue suit and was one of the last guests introduced, to raucous applause, during the ceremony. “He’s an idol to me, how he’s well respected in the game. He carries himself like every baseball player or professional athlete should. A very classy guy, very straightforward, very friendly.”

It was Jordan who handpicked Jeter to be part of the Jordan Brand line 15 years ago, taken with his professionalism, dedication and accomplishments.

Jazz owner Greg Miller completes 3-year expedition

Here’s the Salt Lake Tribune blog reporting on a fascinating journey:

In all, the longest trek of Greg Miller’s life took three years.

He completed 58,196 miles over 33 countries and all seven continents. He literally drove the world in his Toyota Land Cruiser.

It took Miller 218 days, and required a significant financial commitment. 47 different individuals, and five different photographers chronicled the journey of Miller, the principal owner of the Utah Jazz.

The trip was draining. It was exhilerating. He made friends that he’ll keep for life. He visited significant worldly landmarks. When he thought of the trip over a random breakfast with his good friend Scott Brady in 2011, Miller never dreamed that it would turn out so taxing, yet so rewarding.

Andre Drummond glad that Greg Monroe is back with Pistons

Here’s the Detroit Free Press reporting on the Pistons, who have Greg Monroe back next season — though his future in Detroit beyond that is in doubt:

Andre Drummond glad that Greg Monroe is back with Pistons

Reacting to the Pistons’ reported signing of teammate Greg Monroe for the 2014-15 season, Drummond said he felt relieved to hear the news on Saturday.

“I was very excited knowing we got Greg back for another season,” he said. “The tandem we have is something we’ve been working on for the past two years. Going at it again, it’s going to be fun.”

Though he denied any involvement in Monroe’s decision-making process, Drummond suggested he had inside information on his counterpart’s final decision.

“I knew he was coming back,” Drummond said. “It was just a matter of time.”

Bojan Bogdanovic scores 27 in loss to France

Here’s ESPN New York with a World Cup update that Brooklyn Nets fans should care about:

Well, this should get Nets fans pretty excited.

Bojan Bogdanovic, the European sharpshooter who signed a three-year, $10 million contract with the Nets in the offseason, had a game-high 27 points for Croatia on Saturday in the team’s 69-64 elimination loss to France in the round of 16 at the FIBA World Cup in Spain.

Bogdanovic had 14 of his points in the fourth quarter as Croatia nearly rallied back from a 16-point deficit. He hit a 3-pointer with just more than a minute left to bring his team within two, but he missed a long triple out of an isolation set 28 seconds later that could’ve given Croatia a 67-66 lead.

Bogdanovic scored nine points in the first quarter, but he was held to just four in the next two quarters as he stopped getting touches before erupting in the fourth. His offensive talent was on full display, and he showed that he can get hot in stretches and isn’t afraid to take the big shot.

Adam Silver has no problem with LeBron return to Cleveland

Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting some insight from NBA commissioner Adam Silver:

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver isn’t denying Miami as a sexy market, but in his recent interview with Bloomberg Television he clearly did not have an issue with LeBron James’ return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, citing NFL-style parity. “And so we want to build to be at that same point where 30 teams are all competing for championships,” he said in the wake of the Heat’s four consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. “If, for example, in the NFL, when Green Bay’s playing Pittsburgh, the reaction isn’t, oh, that ‘they’re small markets,’ it’s that, ‘they’re storied franchises,’ ” he said. “And I think we’re beginning to see that in the league with teams like Oklahoma City, with the San Antonio Spurs, now, with the return of LeBron to Cleveland. And that’s what you want if you’re a commissioner. You want all of your teams to be competitive and you want them ultimately to succeed based on management, not who’s got the deepest pocket or what market is the most attractive.” Of course, it’s one thing for LeBron to return home to Cleveland, another for a top-tier free agent to aggressively pursue a future in Sacramento, Utah or Milwaukee.